Qi flows through 12 meridians and their eight transversal branches – the collaterals. The meridians are named after organs such as the heart and lungs since each of them is connected to one of the 12 organs and travels along its own route within that trunk. The two most important collaterals are on the midlines on the front and back of the body. Meridians and collaterals transport qi and regulate yin and yang. Therefore most remedies in TCM, including acupuncture, massage and herbal medicines, focus on keeping the qi flowing smoothly through these channels. The techniques used unblock the energy.

Acupuncture is performed on the hundreds of points that fall along the meridians and collaterals. To decide which acupuncture points to target, the acupuncturist first evaluates the patient’s condition by observing and questioning. Inspection, auscultation/olfaction, inquiry and palpation are four ways of diagnosis in TCM, methods handed down over thousands of years. The diagnosis is a decisive factor in choosing the size and type of the needle the practitioner will insert, as well as the depth of insertion. For example, an arrowhead needle is used for superficial pricking, the longer one is for muscle puncturing and the thicker ones are especially for joints.

According to the patient’s symptoms, the acupuncturist then inserts several steel needles at some specific acupuncture points to a depth of some three to five mm. The patient does not suffer from twinges during this procedure since these needles are extremely narrow in diameter, much smaller in fact than those used for hypodermic injections. The end of the needle is covered with plastic or wound with thick thread so as to shape a knob for the practitioner to grasp.

In general, acupuncture is often practiced along with moxibustion. As early as in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC) the burning of mugwort was used as a supplemental therapy to acupuncture. Zhen jiu, the Chinese name of acupuncture and moxibustion, can be literally translated as needle and moxibustion.

Mugwort is believed to be effective in expelling cold and weakness from the body, having the effect of warming up the meridian system and leading to a smooth flow of qi and blood. While needles are still inserted in acupuncture points, the practitioner will wrap their tips with the fluff of mugwort, or attach a mugwort stick to the ends and ignite it, directing further warmth to the blocked spots. No need to be alarmed as it does no harm to the skin; rather, a pleasant sensation spreads as the mugwort burns out and conducts heat into the patient’s body while blockages near the needle disperse.

The needles are removed after about 15 minutes. With only a pleasant tingle remaining, the patient feels relaxed and free of former tension and pain. That is to say, the yin and yang have been restored to their balanced state and the stagnant qi has been set moving. Based on the patient’s response to the first treatment, the acupuncturist will make a healing plan; this usually requires regular visits where progress is tracked toward goals.

Although traditional Chinese medicine is not based on biomedical diagnosis, there is a relationship between the two. In recent decades, practitioners familiar with both medical systems have found that the symptoms of disharmony as defined in TCM probably reflect a biomedical disease. For instance, the syndrome diagnosed by TCM as a deficiency in the spleen can manifest as diarrhea or chronic fatigue. As opposed to folk medicine, acupuncture is a highly developed and systematic therapy and a discipline that continues to evolve and refine itself.

For that reason, the age-old practice of acupuncture is not disregarded by modern medicine. To better protect and develop this traditional medical knowledge, the Chinese government included acupuncture in the first batch to make the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2006. Nowadays, acupuncture is not only a common health treatment in Asian countries, but also increasingly accepted by more patients and doctors in Western countries as a non-intrusive therapy with few side-effects.